Bellwood senior Tina Hollen won the District VI girls tennis Championship match on October 3rd and 5th.

“It’s a dream, man. I’m just riding the wave,” said Hollen about all her success this season.

On the first day of the district tournament, Hollen defeated all three of her opponents 6-0, 6-0.

“It was definitely a confident booster not losing a game on Tuesday. [It] put me in the right state of mind for my championship match on Thursday,” said Hollen.

On Thursday, the district final match was to be outside against Central Cambria freshman Olivia Ratchford at the Bertram Leopold Complex. However, due to the weather, the match was moved indoors.

The girls played two sets on the court, but because the match was so long they ran out of court time.

Hollen won the first set 6-4, and Ratchford won the second 6-2.  After the two sets, there was a 15 minute break. Once the court arrangements were resolved, Hollen and Ratchford continued playing, and Hollen won 6-1.

“That was an awesome match in which Tina fought back to win the 3rd set after losing the 2nd set.  Tina easily could have given up after that 2nd set but she showed tremendous grit and determination to dominate the 3rd set like she did.  This was her individual goal all season and she was able to accomplish it,” said Tyrone Head Coach Randy Irvin.

Hollen began playing tennis in seventh grade. She has played for Tyrone tennis all four years of high school and has been Tyrone’s number one player since her sophomore year.

She has won back to back Mountain League MVP titles and is hoping for her third this season.

Hollen was 9-1 on the season, losing only to Grier.

“To be a good tennis player, you have to put in the time to develop your strokes and your overall game. You need to be able to have a couple of different weapons because there are so many types of tennis players and it takes different skill sets to beat them. But most important is your attitude, how you view your situation is vital, and mental toughness is so important. You have to be willing to play out long points, move your feet on every shot, continue to swing through your ball, and really keep your form no matter how tired you get,” said Hollen.

Hollen will travel to Hershey on November 3rd to compete at States where she will play against the winner of the Philadelphia region.

“I’m just going to try my best and do what I can [at States],” said Hollen.

In addition to Hollen, Tyrone sophomore Winnie Grot also represented Tyrone tennis at Districts singles.

Grot advanced to the quarterfinals but lost 6-1, 6-1 in semifinals.

In Doubles District 6,  Grot and senior Grace Gensimore also won their first-round match with a 6-3, 6-2 score.  After moving into the quarterfinals, the duo lost 6-1. 6-0.

Junior Ava McCracken and German exchange student Lara Pilgram won their first round 6-3, 7-6 (7-5). The two lost in quarterfinals 6-2, 6-0.